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Annabelle Ransomware Decryption Tool being given away for Free

A decryption tool designed to undo the damage done by the Anabelle ransomware aware is being given away free by Bitdefender Labs.

Anabelle is a particularly nasty piece of malware that does everything it can to screw up a victim’s system, Bleeping Computer reported. Annabelle can kill security programs, disable Windows Defender, shutdown firewalls, encrypt files, and even overwrite the master boot record to block access to everything on a computer.

To make things worse, Annabelle can turn off a wide variety of programs including Process Hacker, Process Explorer, Msconfig, Task Manager, and Chrome. Then to add the fun it can reconfigure the Image File Execution to keep you from launching Internet Explorer, Notepad, Chrome, and Opera, and keep users from accessing the internet.

One reason why Annabelle is so bad is that it appears designed to show the world just how destructive its’ creators can be. Instead of seeking ransom, the evil geniuses behind Annabelle are showing off their skills as malware creators.

Named for the horror movie franchise Annabelle, the ransomware spreads through infected USB drives. Cryptocurrency geeks should be scared of Annabelle because it might have the capacity to infect hardware wallets.

Free Decryption for Annabelle available

Bitdefender Labs is offering a free Annabelle Decryption Tool that you can download online. Full instructions for using the tool are available here:

You can tell if Annabelle is attacking your computer because the arrogant sociopaths behind it always leave their calling card in the form of a ransom note that contains a lip from the movies. The clip is below to help you spot Annabelle.

Freemiums for Good

The company is also offering a free ransomware recognition tool if you cannot tell which ransomware is attacking your devices. The tool can supposedly tell which family of ransomware the weapon encrypting your computer comes from. It can also direct you to an encryption tool if one exists.

Bitfender helps Law Enforcement battle GrandCrab

Bitdefender Labs is a well-respected security research organization that works closely with law enforcement. The company helped the Romanian Police, Europol, and Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism create the GrandCrab Decryption solution.

GrandCrab is a traditional piece of ransomware that takes over computers and demands an exorbitant ransom to release them sometimes as high as $700,000. The heroes at BitDefender Labs try to offer the same service for free. Bit Defender claims its solution works for all known versions of GrandCrab.